The Great Primate Handshake – Volunteer in Africa, working to conserve monkeys and apes through film and educational content production

A new chimp house for Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary

Written by Emma Nash

3. August 2012

On the 2nd of August we were invited along to the grand opening of the newest chimp house at Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary within Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Sweetwaters was established in 1993 when the Jane Goodall Institute and the Kenya Wildlife Service joined forces to open the sanctuary within Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Nanyuki, Kenya. An initial group [...]

A visit to the Colobus Trust

Written by Emma Nash

22. July 2012

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Hand rearing any animal is a tough job so when we found out about baby Betsy – the longest surviving Black and White Angolan Colobus monkey to be hand reared – we were excited to be given the opportunity to visit Betsy and her handler, Andrea. We were asked to create a follow on documentary to [...]

Single species conservation

Written by Phil Singh

12. November 2010

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In many ecosystems a single species is often conserved in the hope that action towards them will improve survival chances of other species within the habitat. These organisms are also known as keystone species and their influence on fellow animals or an entire ecosystem can be enormous; species include the Eastern Red Backed Salamander and [...]

Animal uses within science and technology

Written by Phil Singh

5. November 2010

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Throughout human history, humans have used animals as test subjects, from cosmetics and medical testing to space travel. Animals are used to see what effect these processes have upon a human-like body, a practice which raises many moral and ethical questions. Primates were often chosen above others as test subjects for space exploration, as their close genetics [...]

Sanctuaries and zoos outside natural habitats

Written by Phil Singh

29. October 2010

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Zoos and sanctuaries appear the world over. They are now a major part of both conservation and the tourism industry. There are differences between the two, with sanctuaries being set up as a safe haven for mistreated animals, while zoos have traditionally focused upon the entertainment aspect and many of these cases are well documented. http://www.captiveanimals.org/zoos/southport.htm Another [...]

Close Encounters: The Benefits and Costs.

Written by Lucy Radford

8. October 2010

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At first glance, eco-tourism initiatives that allow people to get close to endangered species seem like a brilliant way of dealing with several of conservation’s significant problems; raising awareness and increasing people’s passion for conservation, boosting local economies, and bringing money in to help pay to conserve not only the species in question, but others [...]

Last Stop: Colobus Trust, Diani Beach!

Written by Lauren Gribble

1. September 2010

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Today, the Great Primate Handshake visited The Colobus Trust in the heart of Diani Beach. This non-profit organization was founded in 1997 and works to rescue and rehabilitate the area’s threatened primates. Primates such asthe Angolan colobus monkey, vervet monkeys, Sykes monkeys, bush babies and yellow baboons have all found aid from the Colobus Trust. When [...]

Reforesting Bore: A Resident’s Perspective

Written by Lucy Radford

31. August 2010

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Jeremiah Muramba is a resident of Bore, making his living from small-scale farming and devoting his spare time to helping with efforts to reforest the area. As he puts it, his role is to make sure the existing forest and newly-planted saplings cannot be destroyed, either wilfully or accidentally. One of the main ways in [...]

Who’s Encroaching On Whom?

Written by Lucy Radford

27. August 2010

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An article on the BBC News website on 25th August 2010 had the headline “The criminal baboons terrorising South Africa”, and goes on to describe the baboons of the Cape Peninsula as “intruders”. This got us at the Handshake thinking about the now-widespread problem of human-wildlife conflict, and the rights and wrongs of criminalising the [...]

Dinner – Kenyan style

Written by Phil Singh

25. August 2010

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The Handshake had the privilege of having dinner in a Kenyan home on Monday night. Laurence, one of the founders of the Handshake, received a call from one of his old university friends, Ombaye, who invited all the 20 people involved in this expedition for dinner. Ombaye Getui is a graduate of Lampeter University in [...]